Abstract
Recently, different investigations have been performed to study the inhibiting effect of metal nanoparticles, which have shown high competence in delaying the onset of asphaltene precipitation. The goal of this work is to investigate the effect of Fe3O4 metal nanoparticles on the size variation of asphaltene aggregates. The size distribution of three types of asphaltenes at different heptane to toluene (heptol) volume ratios was analyzed using dynamic light scattering technique immediately after the separation of nanoparticles. With the successive increase of heptol volume ratio, the size distribution ranges of asphaltenes moved to higher values. The particle size of asphaltene A was more sensitive to heptol addition. The aggregate size showed a rise from 72 to 5600 nm when the heptol ratio increased from 0 to 40%. Fe3O4 nanoparticle presence reduced asphaltenes A and B aggregate size, inhibiting large particle formation. The mean particle size of asphaltene A reduced 37% for nanoparticle dosage of 0.1 wt% and heptol ratio of 40%. However, the size of asphaltene C aggregates did not significantly change. The results showed that the aromaticity of asphaltenes followed the trend of asphaltene A > asphaltene B > asphaltene C, indicating the inhibiting effect of nanoparticles for more aromatic asphaltene. The inhibiting effect of nanoparticles attributes to the adsorption of asphaltene on the surface of nanoparticles. With increasing the aromatic character, the self-association of asphaltene particles and interactions between the aromatic core of asphaltene and Fe atoms rise, which increases the adsorption of asphaltene.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allen T (2003) Powder sampling and particle size determination. Elsevier
Amin F, Solaimany Nazar AR (2016) Assessing the asphaltene adsorption on metal oxide nanoparticles. IJOGST 5(3):62–72. https://doi.org/10.22050/ijogst.2015.38531
Burya YG, Yudin IK, Dechabo VA, Kosov VI, Anisimov MA (2001) Light-scattering study of petroleum asphaltene aggregation. Appl Opt 40(24):4028–4035. https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.40.004028
Calles JA, Dufour J, Marugán J, Peña JL, Giménez-Aguirre R, Merino-García D (2008) Properties of asphaltenes precipitated with different n-alkanes. A study to assess the most representative species for modeling. Energy Fuels 22(2):763–769. https://doi.org/10.1021/ef700404p
Mansur C, de Melo AR, FLucas E (2012) Determination of asphaltene particle size: influence of flocculant, additive, and temperature. Energy Fuels 26(8):4988–4994. https://doi.org/10.1021/ef300365x
Cortés FB, Mejía JM, Ruiz MA, Benjumea P, Riffel DB (2012) Sorption of asphaltenes onto nanoparticles of nickel oxide supported on nanoparticulated silica gel. Energy Fuels 26(3):1725–1730. https://doi.org/10.1021/ef201658c
Delgado-Linares J, Cardenas A, Morillo N, Guevara M, Bullón J (2019) Asphaltene precipitation from Latin American heavy crude oils. Effects of solvent aromaticity and agitation on particle size reduction. J Dispers Sci Technol 40(1):74–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/01932691.2018.1464468
Duran JA, Casas YA, Xiang L, Zhang L, Zeng H, Yarranton HW (2018) Nature of asphaltene aggregates. Energy Fuels 33(5):3694–3710. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.8b03057
Ezeonyeka NL, Hemmati-Sarapardeh A, Husein MM (2018) Asphaltenes adsorption onto metal oxide nanoparticles: a critical evaluation of measurement techniques. Energy Fuels 32(2):2213–2223. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.7b03693
Fenistein D, Barré L, Broseta D, Espinat D, Livet A, Roux JN, Scarsella M, Livet A (1998) Viscosimetric and neutron scattering study of asphaltene aggregates in mixed toluene/heptane solvents. Langmuir 14(5):1013–1020. https://doi.org/10.1021/la9709148
Franco CA, Nassar NN, Montoya T, Ruíz MA, Cortés FB (2015) Influence of asphaltene aggregation on the adsorption and catalytic behavior of nanoparticles. Energy Fuels 29:31610–31621. https://doi.org/10.1021/ef502786e
Hemmati-Sarapardeh A, Dabir B, Ahmadi M, Mohammadi AH, Husein MM (2018) Toward mechanistic understanding of asphaltene aggregation behavior in toluene: the roles of asphaltene structure, aging time, temperature, and ultrasonic radiation. J Mol Liqu 264:410–424. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2018.04.061
Hosseini-Dastgerdi Z, Meshkat SS (2018) An experimental and modeling study of asphaltene adsorption by carbon nanotubes from model oil solution. J Petrol Sci Eng 174:1053–1061. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2018.12.024
Hosseini-Dastgerdi Z, Meshkat SS, Hosseinzadeh S, Esrafili MD (2019) Application of novel Fe3O4–polyaniline nanocomposites in asphaltene adsorptive removal: equilibrium, kinetic study and DFT calculations. J Inorg Organomet Polym Mater 29(4):1–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10904-019-01079-2
Hosseini-Dastgerdi Z, Tabatabaei-Nejad SAR, Khodapanah E, Sahraei E (2015) A comprehensive study on mechanism of formation and techniques to diagnose asphaltene structure; molecular and aggregates: a review. Asia-Pacific Chem Eng J 10(1):1–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/apj.1836
Hosseinpour N, Khodadadi AA, Bahramian A, Mortazavi Y (2013) Asphaltene adsorption onto acidic/basic metal oxide nanoparticles toward in situ upgrading of reservoir oils by nanotechnology. Langmuir 29(46):14135–14146. https://doi.org/10.1021/la402979h
Kazemzadeh Y, Eshraghi SE, Kazemi K, Sourani S, Mehrabi M, Ahmadi Y (2015) Behavior of asphaltene adsorption onto the metal oxide nanoparticle surface and its effect on heavy oil recovery. J Ind Eng Chem Res 54(1):233–239. https://doi.org/10.1021/ie503797g
Kempkes M, Eggers J, Mazzotti M (2008) Measurement of particle size and shape by FBRM and in situ microscopy. J Chem Eng Sci 63(19):4656–4675. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ces.2007.10.030
Kraiwattanawong K, Fogler HS, Gharfeh SG, Singh P, Thomason WH, Chavadej S (2009) Effect of asphaltene dispersants on aggregate size distribution and growth. Energy Fuels 23(3):1575–1582. https://doi.org/10.1021/ef800706c
Larichev YV, Nartova AV, Martyanov ON (2016) The influence of different organic solvents on the size and shape of asphaltene aggregates studied via small-angle X-ray scattering and scanning tunneling microscopy. Adsorp Sci Technol 34(2–3):244–257. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263617415623440
Li X, Guo Y, Sun Q, Lan W, Guo X (2018a) Effect of nanoparticles on asphaltene aggregation in a microsized pore. J Ind Eng Chem Res 57(27):9009–9017. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.8b00729
Li X, Guo Y, Sun Q, Lan W, Liu A, Guo X (2018b) Experimental study for the impacts of flow rate and concentration of asphaltene precipitant on dynamic asphaltene deposition in microcapillary medium. J Petrol Sci Eng 162:333–340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2017.12.031
Mohammadi M, Akbari M, Fakhroueian Z, Bahramian A, Azin R, Arya S (2011) Inhibition of asphaltene precipitation by TiO2, SiO2, and ZrO2 nanofluids. Energy Fuels 25(7):3150–3156. https://doi.org/10.1021/ef2001635
Nassar NN (2010) Asphaltene adsorption onto alumina nanoparticles: kinetics and thermodynamic studies. Energy Fuels 24(8):4116–4122. https://doi.org/10.1021/ef100458g
Nassar NN, Betancur S, Acevedo S, Franco CA, Cortés FB (2015) Development of a population balance model to describe the influence of shear and nanoparticles on the aggregation and fragmentation of asphaltene aggregates. Ind Eng Chem Res 54(33):8201–8211. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.5b02075
Rajagopal K, Silva SMC (2004) An experimental study of asphaltene particle sizes in n-heptane-toluene mixtures by light scattering. J Chem Eng 21(4):601–609. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-66322004000400009
Rassamdana H, Sahimi M (1996) Asphalt flocculation and deposition: II. Formation and growth of fractal aggregates. AIChE J 42(12):3318–3332. https://doi.org/10.1002/aic.690421204
Rastegari K, Svrcek WY, Yarranton HW (2004) Kinetics of asphaltene flocculation. Ind Eng Chem Res 43(21):6861–6870. https://doi.org/10.1021/ie049594v
Sedghi M, Goual L, Welch W, Kubelka J (2013) Effect of asphaltene structure on association and aggregation using molecular dynamics. J Physic Chem B 117(18):5765–5776. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp401584u
Seifried CM, Crawshaw J, Boek ES (2013) Kinetics of asphaltene aggregation in crude oil studied by confocal laser-scanning microscopy. Energy Fuels 27(4):1865–1872. https://doi.org/10.1021/ef301594j
Setoodeh N, Darvishi P, Lashanizadegan A (2018a) Comparative study to evaluate the performance of coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles for adsorption of asphaltene from crude oil in bench scale. J Dispers Sci Technol 39(5):711–720. https://doi.org/10.1080/01932691.2017.1386111
Setoodeh N, Darvishi P, Lashanizadegan A (2018b) Enhancing of asphaltene adsorption onto Fe3O4 nanoparticles coated with metal-organic framework Mil-101 (Cr) for the inhibition of asphaltene precipitation. J Dispers Sci Technol 39(3):452–459. https://doi.org/10.1080/01932691.2017.1326310
Shojaati F, Riazi M, Mousavi SH, Derikvand Z (2017) Experimental investigation of the inhibitory behavior of metal oxides nanoparticles on asphaltene precipitation. J Colloids Surf. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfa.2017.07.087
Wiehe I. A (2008) Process chemistry of petroleum macromolecules. CRC press
Yarranton HW, Ortiz DP, Barrera DM, BaydakE N, Barré L, Frot D, Becerra M (2013) On the size distribution of self-associated asphaltenes. Energy Fuels 27(9):5083–5106. https://doi.org/10.1021/ef400729w
Yudin F, Anisimov M (2007) Dynamic light scattering monitoring of asphaltene aggregation in crude oils and hydrocarbon solutions. In: Mullins O et al (eds) Asphaltenes, heavy oils, and petroleumics, 1st edn. Springer, New York, pp 439–468
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hosseini-Dastgerdi, Z., Meshkat, S.S. & Samadi, L. Investigation of asphaltene aggregate size: influence of Fe3O4 nanoparticles, asphaltene type, and flocculant. Chem. Pap. 75, 2023–2032 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11696-020-01483-w
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11696-020-01483-w